Last Sunday four more photos arrived in electronic form from said uncle. This first one is a version of one I have already posted, showing a slightly blurred 30T, suspected to be 3004T, taking water at Eumungerie.
I also suspected that 3004T (tbc) was on No. 5 down pickup, which was supposed to depart Eumungerie around 7:00am every day except Sundays. My problem with that theory is that the loco should be horribly back-lit. Maybe it was a cloudy day? Maybe. Anyway, here is the shot.
Now the exciting stuff. There is a companion photograph! And its less blurred!
In this second photo the fireman can be seen more clearly on the back of the tender, as can the decent coal load. The driver is down at the base of the water column - though it could be one of my bloody relatives making a nuisance of themselves. Again, the shadows are worrying me. Also worrying me is the lack of cab numbers - no, I haven't been into Photoshop removing things. The most excellent fillum used by our family just managed to ignore this detail. Or less likely, the numbers have been removed by persons unknown (said relative is in the clear).
Now, this third photograph adds to the theory. It shows a rather new two car diesel working through Eumungerie. Its pretty early on - early 1950s I am guessing - as there is no ETP/EHO on the rear. And the collection of wagons on the adjacent line are a rich tapestry indeed. A couple of Ks or like stuffed with hay for hungry beasts, a steel (?) S wagon loaded with fuel drums and a decrepit looking louvre van form part of the load. To this sad case, its gorgeous. And don't get me started on the lamp room, the telegraph pole and point levers.
If No. 45 Diesel Train is running on time, this photograph was taken at 8:48am, and its a Tuesday or a Thursday. And if these wagons belong to 3004T, it might just explain why the shadows aren't where they should be at 7:00am. Its because the pick-up is running late.
And now for the final photograph...
First of all, the shadows are where I expect them to be around 9:00am!
Here we have the station officer (from the waist coat and hat) squeezing between the pick-up and a RU wheat wagon which is lined up for loading. What's special - the lack of ash as ballast, the wagons forming the Pick-up, or the blob in front of the goods shed just to the right of the RU? You are correct if you answer 'all of the above'.
So, I have still not convinced myself that all four of these photos belong with each other (certainly the first two do), or that it shows a busy Tuesday or Thursday morning in Eumungerie in the 1950s. But it makes a good yarn and a decent modelling proposition.
But the best news is that said uncle thinks he has more!
Until then, cheers!
Don
